The new health and safety statistics have been released and whilst there has been a general drop in work related accidents, it is clear there is still a vital need for SSSTS courses.
Generally, work related illnesses fell over the course of 2012, from the previous year. However, there were still over one million people suffering from a work related illness. This does not include the almost half a million new cases reported of work-related illness. This indicates a downward trend since 2001, but is still far too high. One of the reasons this has changed and been reduced is because of the increased knowledge about health and safety, courses such as the SSSTS course contribute towards this.
The construction industry is still considered to be one of the most dangerous industries. This is because there are so many injuries which could occur as a result of working within construction. This is not just physical injuries, but also long term effects such as breathing in dust and asbestos poisoning. All of which can damage a persons health. Working in an office, or retail do not have these kind of dangers which is why construction is considered to be so dangerous.
Whilst there have been significant reductions in the number of injuries occuring over the past twenty years, construction is a very high risk industry. It equates to about 5% of employees in Britain, but accounts for 22% of all fatal injuries. The most common injury occurs due to a fall of some kind, this equals over half of all work related injuries in the construction industry.
In the last year alone, there was an estimated 1.7million working days lost in the construction industry due to a work related illness. This equates to 0.87 days off per worker, a massive amount. The majority of fatal injuries to workers were to the self-employed. This is likely to be because a self employed worker doesn't need to take a
SSSTS or SMSTS course to work. This means they are unaware of the dangers which they can face in the health and safety industry.
By undertaking a
SSSTS course, the delegate is taught the dangers of the construction industry. They are also given an understanding into how the health and safety law works. If you are self-employed this can be very important if you are considering taking on new workers. Have a look at the
SSSTS and other related construction courses on our website.